LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Zoo has put on display a baby okapi (oh-KAH-pee), a reclusive species that in the wild is found deep in the now-vanishing dense rainforests of central Africa.
The calf born Nov. 10 is the first female okapi produced at the zoo and the second offspring of its mother, 14-year-old Opey.
The mother and father, 3-year-old Jackson, were paired under a species survival plan by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to increase the okapi population. The numbers of okapis in the wild has declined to between 10,000 and 50,000.
Nicknamed the “rainforest giraffe,” okapis are the closest living relative of giraffes but do not grow that tall. They also have zebra-like black-and-white striped patterns on their front and hind legs. Their thick coats are velvety and oily.